Development Code

LEESBURG -- The city's Planning and Zoning Division will host the third in a series of community workshops to discuss the creation of a set of land-development codes. The workshop is designed to update progress on the new Unified Land Development Code, which establishes guidelines for such things as highway landscaping, construction-design standards and signs. The public is encouraged to attend. The workshop will be from 6to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Leesburg City Commission Chambers at City Hall, 501 W. Meadow St. Details: 352-728-9760.

Casselberry City Commission When: 7 p.m. Monday. The issue: *Award of bid to Pooley Enterprises for mold remediation and renovation of Fire Station 25. Cost: $47,877. Sanford City Commission When: 7 p.m. Monday. Agenda may be found online at sanfordfl.gov. Winter Springs City Commission When: 5:15 p.m. Monday. The issues: *Request for Vertex cell tower site to be built in accordance with the final engineering plans. *Request to approve resolution to provide final rates and implementation of the fire-assessment program.

City officials have scheduled three days of workshops early next year to complete the massive land development code.The council has reviewed about one-third of the 500-page document, although no section has been adopted. The proposed code sets standards and procedures for land development, including site plan reviews, subdivision controls, tree protection, and water and sewage services.The proposed land development code is part of an effort to overhaul St. Cloud's municipal codes. Earlier this month, officials agreed to spend about $20,000 for a Tallahassee consulting firm to review and recommend changes in the existing city ordinances.

Seminole County Commission When: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The issues: Adoption of an ordinance amending the land development code dealing with the establishment of canopy roads and tree-protection zones. Rezoning of 39 acres on the north side of State Road 46 between Yankee Lake Road and Longwood Markham Road from agriculture use to planned unit development. Approval for Keller Outdoor Inc. to perform commercial collection of waste in unincorporated areas of Seminole County. Casselberry City Commission When: 7 p.m. Monday The issues: Purchase a new pavilion to replace a damaged one as part of renovations at Secret Lake Park.

The St. Cloud City Council has directed staff to begin workshops in October to overhaul the city's central planning document, which could determine the nature of all future development in the city.Mayor Ernie Gearhart proposed revising the Land Development Code at Thursday night's council meeting.''Our Land Development Code is broken,'' Gearhart said. ''It's entirely too cumbersome for our staff, as well as for the public. . . . I'm not an attorney or an engineer. The way it's written, you have to be an engineer or an attorney to read it. It needs to be written in English.

Parts of a proposed growth management code for Volusia County may be extended to include the county's 14 municipalities.The Land Development Code could serve as a good base for standards to protect cities from overdevelopment, county council members said.It will be at least a year before the council decides what portions of the code, which includes regulations that would force developers to pay for or donate land for new schools and parks, should be imposed within municipalities.Parts of it may be rewritten in the next several weeks, but most council members say they hope to approve the new set of laws on Jan 1. The code then could be used to set development standards within cities, they say.Voters last year approved a county home-rule charter amendment that gives the council power to enforce environmental standards inside cities.

KISSIMMEE -- Building a subdivision or shopping center in Osceola County is about to become different for developers and residents alike. The County Commission is holding public hearings on a proposed new Land Development Code, six years in the making. In short, it will codify much of its current thought, establish concurrency in the county and lengthen the development process -- all in the hopes of getting a handle on the rapid growth here that, if left unchecked, could create serious quality-of-life concerns.

For most of its length, the Osceola Parkway is bordered by trees and empty lots, but it may sprout billboards before long.That's because the County Commission is thinking about lifting a 5-year-old billboard moratorium that applies to the Parkway and streets that cross it.The change would come as part of a new countywide sign ordinance to be included in the revised land development code under consideration.Another factor could be a lawsuit filed by three parties who want to erect signs on the Parkway and intersecting streets.

KISSIMMEE -- New regulations designed to ensure better roads, better facilities and an overall better quality-of-life in Osceola County take effect on March 1. But for the two main developers of Poinciana, the county's hottest growth spot, there will be a 4-year period to comply with the new land development code. "In that time, staff and [the developers] will report to the county every six months about the progress we are making," said assistant county attorney Kate Payne, who helped guide the new code, which was six years in the making.

Planning commissioners are recommending that the County Commission adopt a moratorium on new discount ticket booths.The planning panel has been reviewing wording for a new land development code. The code could include tougher regulations on ticket booths. But until those issues have been worked out, no new ticket booths should be allowed, planning commissioners said this week.The recommendation for a moratorium was not listed on the planning commission's agenda for its Thursday meeting. The issue also was discussed at a workshop about the code before the meeting.

Daytona Beach has finally decided to beef up standards for beachside development. Thank goodness for that. With all the new condos and commercial buildings in the pipeline in Daytona Beach, the oceanfront may become a solid curtain of high rises without new standards in place. Although it may have been long in coming, the City Commission is being more proactive in deciding the rules developers play by, and that is encouraging. Commissioners acknowledge that for years, developers dictated to Daytona Beach, instead of the other way around.

LEESBURG -- The city's Planning and Zoning Division will host the third in a series of community workshops to discuss the creation of a set of land-development codes. The workshop is designed to update progress on the new Unified Land Development Code, which establishes guidelines for such things as highway landscaping, construction-design standards and signs. The public is encouraged to attend. The workshop will be from 6to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Leesburg City Commission Chambers at City Hall, 501 W. Meadow St. Details: 352-728-9760.

In reference to Jim Toner's column about the "delivery truck ruckus" (Aug. 10), I am deeply concerned about the future of the Longwood Historic District. The same commissioners who now favor allowing warehousing operations in the historic district previously spent $100,000 to develop a master plan for this district. They also spent $100,000 to rewrite the Longwood Development Code. That's $200,000 of tax money spent on planning. The commissioners need to protect this investment and abide by the master plans.

KISSIMMEE -- New regulations designed to ensure better roads, better facilities and an overall better quality-of-life in Osceola County take effect on March 1. But for the two main developers of Poinciana, the county's hottest growth spot, there will be a 4-year period to comply with the new land development code. "In that time, staff and [the developers] will report to the county every six months about the progress we are making," said assistant county attorney Kate Payne, who helped guide the new code, which was six years in the making.

KISSIMMEE -- Building a subdivision or shopping center in Osceola County is about to become different for developers and residents alike. The County Commission is holding public hearings on a proposed new Land Development Code, six years in the making. In short, it will codify much of its current thought, establish concurrency in the county and lengthen the development process -- all in the hopes of getting a handle on the rapid growth here that, if left unchecked, could create serious quality-of-life concerns.

NARCOOSSEE - Osceola County Commissioners will spend Wednesday laying out priorities for 2000. The County Commission retreat at the Narcoossee Community Center this week promises to be a project and policy buffet where commissioners will tempt residents with dishes they want on this year's menu. It's about exercising lessons learned, fulfilling campaign promises, and offering residents a peak into how votes on hot topics are brewing. ``This is consensus building,'' said Commissioner Mary Jane Arrington.

City officials are moving closer to completing a tree ordinance proposal, following the lead of the county and Kissimmee, which already have adopted tree protection laws.St. Cloud's proposal is part of its land development code, which the city has been working on for about two years.The ordinance would prohibit property owners from cutting down or altering protected trees with trunk diameters of at least four inches. Developers also must conduct tree surveys to identify protected species.

Randy Cohen, St. Cloud city planner, has decided he will take a similar job in Oviedo, and St. Cloud is searching for another planner, Bill Bauer of the Building Department said Tuesday.Bauer said Cohen would leave the city in a few weeks, but no date has been set for his resignation.Cohen has been working on updating the city's land development code and comprehensive plan. He has been with the city for six months. Bauer said Cohen had finished a 400-page draft of the development code and work left on that project mostly will involve reviews by the planning commission, site review board and council.

DEBARY - A local planner may have a new way to control what kind of businesses move onto U.S. Highway 17-92 in the future.York L. Phillips, a growth-management consultant for the city, has a plan for developing two areas along the highway: one as a business district and the other as a light industrial area.The first, extending from just south of Highbanks Road to around Colomba Road, will be a downtown business district. It will accommodate a range of businesses, including offices, stores and restaurants.